In September this year, Google announced its 'Googlebooks' as a premium laptop counterpart to its budget-conscious Chromebooks, rather than a replacement. It wouldn't have made much of a blip on my radar if the company hadn't paired with some of my favorite OEMs to build them.

Indeed, Google isn't building any first-party devices. Unlike Chromebook, these new Android-based offerings come only from OEMs like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. 14-inch Windows laptops have quickly become my favorite, with ASUS' Zenbook in the lead, so the $1,299 ASUS Googlebook 14 is intriguing.

Admittedly, that mild intrigue is tempered by skepticism, given the ongoing controversy over app compatibility for the average consumer. I still see people blasting Windows on ARM devices as an inferior experience, despite Qualcomm's efforts with Snapdragon X2 chips proving that to be largely false.

With that in mind, could I ever seriously expect the general public to adopt another operating system with fewer features than Windows, less customization than Linux, and some pricing sensibilities of Mac? Offered a chance to test-drive a sample from ASUS, I couldn't resist. Here's how it went.

ASUS Googlebook 14: What I like

The ASUS Googlebook 14 looks (and feels) great, which didn't surprise me, given how much I've enjoyed the company's recent design evolutions. Its chassis is coated in a magnesium-aluminum alloy, which explicitly avoids being labeled as the same Ceraluminum as its Zenbooks, but it's extremely similar.

Perhaps most impressive is its weight; ASUS claims the Googlebook 14 starts at 0.99 kg (2.18 lbs), but my scales place it closer to 0.97 kg (2.13 lbs). I'm a big fan of this emerging trend, having adored the Zenbook A14 at 2.18 lbs. Yes, it comes with extra screen flex, but I don't make a habit of bending my laptops.

OLED displays rarely disappoint either, and sure enough, this 16:10 panel also looks great. I'm still getting used to matte screens, and frankly, I almost want to avoid touching it to prevent fingerprints. Nevertheless, it's rated for up to 450 nits of brightness and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. Good for creators.

Finally, the chiclet keyboard has a 1.5mm key travel, which is relatively deep and feels good enough. The 6-inch haptic touchpad, however, is immediately fantastic. Left-clicking works anywhere, and it responds convincingly when pressed. I'll even commend the I/O for keeping USB-A ports around.

ASUS Googlebook 14: What I don't like

Before I had a chance to experience much of Googlebook OS (which can refer to itself as ChromeOS during setup), I was irked by a few user experience oddities. Granted, these are primarily related to my expectations as a Windows user, but when I pressed the Caps Lock button, I expected capital letters.

Instead, Caps Lock defaults to activating a context menu indicated by a plus (+) icon, a sort of one-size-fits-all window that resembles Microsoft's 'Emoji and more' picker. Pressing Fn + Caps Lock delivers what I really wanted, which should be no big deal, just a learning curve. But it keeps going.

There's no delete key, so I need Fn + Backspace for that, which I wouldn't mind if double-tapping the touchpad would drag to select multiple words, but it doesn't work that way; I can only double-tap one word at a time. I suppose I might get used to that, too. Shift + arrow keys still select full lines, after all.

Some aren't as drastic; a single haptic click at the top of an app with maintained contact allows me to drag it around, while double-tapping restores or maximizes as I'd expect. On the other hand, there's no right-click area by default, instead requiring a two-finger tap unless I toggle that touchpad tweak in Settings.

Again, most of these gripes can be so easily dismissed as nothingburger preferences carried over from decades of habits formed on Windows, which is fair, but trying to carry out my daily workflow on the ASUS Googlebook 14 soon had me wondering how much broad appeal this platform will have.

Like an Android smartphone, Google supplies your apps from the Play Store. Starting with Slack shows how a Googlebook handles compatibility by dividing apps into categories ranked from best to worst: Made for desktop, Optimized for desktop, Compatible with desktop, Better on the website, and Built for mobile.

Slack feels like an unlucky starting place for my Googlebook adventure since it lands in the 'Better on the website' category, made worse by a message that says, "This app cannot be installed" as a PWA (Progressive Web App). Installing it anyway is, indeed, a lesser experience than using it in Chrome.

Opening the 'Compatible with desktop' Microsoft Edge brings the entire Googlebook to a strange halt, preventing even Task Manager from opening until I restart, and my chosen video editing suite, DaVinci Resolve, isn't available at all. I know it's in its infancy, but Google's OS isn't thrilling me so far.

ASUS Googlebook 14: What happens next?

All of these impressions came in the first 24 hours of having my hands on this interesting, AI-centric laptop, and there's more to see. Gemini begs me to use it at every turn, but my next step is syncing my Pixel 7 Pro or Galaxy Z Flip 7 to see how features like 'Cast my apps' actually perform.

I'm not writing it off yet, but my first impressions aren't exactly stellar. Even the RGB Glowbar gimmick offers little more than battery-life visibility; almost as frivolous as the illuminated "look what I have" logos on gaming laptop lids. On the software side, OS updates will likely fix many of my complaints.

Still, I won't ignore the outspoken Windows users who have pushed back on Copilot AI integrations in Microsoft's leading OS for the past few years, and I can only wonder who would adopt something fundamentally the same, except built by Google. Are Googlebooks perhaps only appealing to developers?

Either way, I'm impressed with ASUS but unconvinced by Googlebook. The hardware is fantastic, but it comes from the same people who built the Zenbook, so that's hardly a revelation. I'll keep using Googlebook OS for a few more days and see how it feels once the launch hype dies down.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Recently, it was revealed that fans can expect FSR4 on the likes of the Xbox Ally X, something my colleague Jez Corden covered. But now, thanks to god-knows-what-kind-of wizardry, a new mod developed by lonewolf0622 has managed to get Nvidia’s own DLSS 3.7 working on AMD’s hardware, including the ROG Ally X and Steam Deck.

For those unfamiliar with what DLSS and FSR do, they basically let hardware render games at lower resolutions to improve performance, then upscale that image without tanking visual quality. Think of it as a game rendering at 720p and upscaling to 1080p for a much sharper image.

The mod, called HelixSR, is quite clever in how it achieves this. Rather than requiring NVIDIA hardware, it effectively tricks the hardware in believing it's AMD's FSR 3.1, allowing games to use DLSS's image reconstruction instead.

In testing from various creators, we actually know whether the mod is good or not. And early testing says, yes, it is. Over on ResetEra, users have been comparing HelixSR against FSR 4. One test showed that upscaling at 1080p took around 7 milliseconds with HelixSR, compared to 11 milliseconds using FSR 4.

It's not an insignificant difference, particularly for handhelds where performance is already rather limited. Of course, there's more to upscaling than raw performance, and whether the resulting image looks better is up for debate.

YouTuber BlackHeart909 has also been experimenting with the mod, reportedly achieving between 35 and 40 FPS in CONTROL Resonant on the ROG Ally X at 1080p. Dropping the output to 720p apparently allowed the game to maintain a locked 60 FPS, which is rather impressive.

There are some catches, though. HelixSR currently only works with DirectX 12 games, and those without FSR 3.1 support need an additional tool called OptiScaler.

Still, I find this whole thing fascinating. NVIDIA has spent years making DLSS a major selling point for its graphics cards, and now we're seeing people bring the technology to AMD-powered handhelds, which is just something I never thought we'd see.

Do let me know your thoughts on this in the comments. Shoutout to wccftech for originally reporting on this; it’s a great mod and hopefully can be more refined in the future.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

IDC and Omdia, two major analyst firms, recently released independent reports showing massive year-over-year drops in global PC shipments in Q3 2026. IDC shows a slightly rosier 20.1% decline compared to Q3 2025, whereas Omdia reports a 21.2% decline.

Breaking that down, Omdia notes that desktop shipments dropped 23.5% and laptops 20.6% to arrive at the average.

This decline is not normal. As IDC notes, Q3 almost always beats Q2, but this year, it's dropped by 9.1% sequentially.

Is there a need to panic? Probably not, at least not more than the new normal, as RAM and storage shortages have pushed prices beyond what many users are willing to pay. Let me explain.

Why did global PC shipments fall off a cliff in Q3 2026?

Both analysts agree that the sharp drop in global PC shipments is due to vendors and supply channels buying up stock earlier in the year. IDC's Jitesh Ubrani says it's the result of "strong first half pull-in" which has "thrown off the usual seasonality".

Despite the RAM and storage crisis already digging its claws into the market in Q1 2026, global PC shipments actually rose by 3.2% on the back of panic buyers, Windows 10 upgraders, and advance vendor stockpiling.

It wasn't until Q2 2026 that global shipments finally dropped year-over-year, this time by 4%. Again, much of the PC market was kept afloat by vendors and supply channels padding out their inventories before prices went any higher.

That momentum has finally tailed off in a major way. Ubrani remarks:

Omdia's Research Director Ishan Dutt agrees, noting that "pull-forward activity buoyed the PC market in the first half of the year" and that the sharp drop in Q3 2026 "comes as no surprise."

Which PC brand got hit the hardest in Q3 2026?

Omdia and IDC both provide detailed numbers as to how many shipments each major PC brand was able to send out in Q3 2026.

According to IDC, HP saw the biggest year-over-year decline at 30.9%, with Lenovo coming in second at a 22.6% decline. Omdia's numbers put HP at -31% and Lenovo at -22.9%, so not much difference.

Moving down IDC's list, Dell was hit by a 25% decline, ASUS by 8.6%, and other brands together by 14%. Despite Apple growing strongly in Q2 2026 thanks to the launch of its MacBook Neo, it also dropped off by 11.3% in Q3.

What does the drop in global PC shipments mean for regular buyers?

Basically, this sharp drop in shipments doesn't mean that you should suddenly see a return to more regular prices.

Vendors and suppliers had to buy their PCs in the first half of 2026 at a much higher price than usual, and they're not likely keen on losing money as they get rid of stock in Q4.

RAM and storage costs have not improved, and IDC's Ubrani notes that "with macro conditions worsening, the risk is that the outlook for the next few quarters gets worse before it gets better."

Offering buying advice here sort of feels futile. On one hand, yes, some vendors might realize they need to offload stock and will offer some tasty discounts that bring prices back into the realm of reality. Unfortunately, I can't guarantee that will happen any time in the near future.

On the other hand, laptops might be at their most affordable right now, and waiting for a great deal will only end up making you pay more later this year or next year. It's a frustrating predicament, to be sure.

It will be interesting to see what Q4 2026 has in store for the global PC market.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft's new Surface Laptop Ultra is here. Preorders are live and shipments start next week. The PC packs an RTX Spark processor and has a mini-LED display and a nice range of ports, including the special magnetic USB-C port.

Surprisingly, the Surface Laptop Ultra has the lowest starting price of all the RTX Spark laptops. But Microsoft is pushing to compete with more than just Windows laptops. The tech giant will give you up to $1,000 cash back when you trade in a MacBook Pro and buy a Surface Laptop Ultra.

The cash back you receive would be on top of the trade-in value, not in place of it. Rather than the funds being dispensed at checkout, Microsoft will pay the cash back after receiving and evaluating your device.

"A promotional offer is extra value added to your trade-in when your device and purchase qualify," says Microsoft. "For example, you may receive a promotional bonus in addition to your device's standard trade-in value. The total amount is paid after your device is received and evaluated, not applied at checkout."

If you stack trade-in value with cash back, you can effectively save thousands of dollars on a Surface Laptop Ultra. Of course, that would require you to have a MacBook Pro in excellent condition that has incredibly high specs, all while wanting a Surface instead. I'm not sure how many people will check all those boxes.

Perhaps the bigger news here is that Microsoft specifically made a cash back offer targeting MacBook Pro owners. That's a clear shot at Apple and a sign that Microsoft wants to compete with what are often considered the best laptops on the market.

As you'd expect, the value of your device trade-in depends greatly on the model you're trading in and the condition that device is in. The highest trade-in value I was able to get through Microsoft's website was $2,115 for a MacBook Pro 16-inch (2025) with 128GB of RAM and 4TB of storage.

Interest in the Surface Laptop Ultra has been strong from our readers. It will be interesting to see if that sentiment is widespread and translates to sales.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

AMD's Senior VP and GM of Computing and Graphics, Jack Huynh, recently revealed to Korean tech outlet TheElec that the company intends to launch FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (aka FSR 4) on more than just its Radeon RX 9000 and RX 7000 discrete graphics cards before 2027.

Huynh notes that the FSR 4 saturation will not only cover new APU hardware, but also existing APUs, gaming handhelds, and gaming laptops.

For us here at Windows Central, this is big news. Many of our favorite gaming handhelds, including the ROG Xbox Ally X and Legion Go, use an AMD Ryzen APU, which, to this point (and until AMD flips the switch), has only had official access to FSR 3.

I say official, because savvy enthusiasts have actually been able to get a leaked version of FSR 4 running on hardware suitable only for FSR 3 and 3.5, like the APUs used in gaming handhelds.

This hack delivered the change from FSR 3's manually tuned upscaling to FSR 4's machine learning approach, but it didn't come without some performance drawbacks.

According to Huynh, the secret to bringing FSR 4 to such a wide range of AMD GPUs is a new custom model.

AMD teased this advancement earlier this year when it unveiled FSR 4.1 for its Radeon RX 7000 GPUs, saying it needed more time to develop the lightweight alternative. About four months later, we now have confirmation that it's arriving before 2026 is through.

Is this what AMD needs to compete with Intel?

When I attended Computex this year, I had a chance to test out new gaming handhelds featuring Intel G3 and G3 Extreme chipsets.

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, the Acer Predator Atlas 8, and the OneXPlayer 3 were all available, and I was blown away by their performance and efficiency.

👉 "The upgrade I've been waiting for": Intel's new Arc G-Series gaming handheld chips are taking the fight straight to AMD Ryzen

My first thought, as I was enjoying some smooth gameplay on MSI's handheld, was that AMD had better cook something up quickly to compete with Intel.

Intel's package is all about superb performance with XeSS 3 multi-frame generation and low latency, with Team Blue claiming roughly 42% better performance than AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme at 35W.

If you've also had a chance to try out this latest wave of Intel handhelds, you know exactly what I'm getting at.

Part of the problem with AMD's existing handhelds is that they don't have access to machine learning upscaling, and the gap between FSR 3's hand-tuned abilities and FSR 4's AI-based approach is noticeable.

That will change whenever AMD actually drops FSR 4 down to its existing APUs. The real upshot here is that countless handheld gamers are going to suddenly get a boost without paying anything extra.

With Intel's G3/G3 Extreme handhelds generally costing significantly more than AMD alternatives, this should also help keep Ryzen-powered devices in the mix.

The bottom line here is that it's great to see AMD catching up to its competition, no matter how late it arrives. And I'll be keeping my eye on whatever next-gen APUs AMD is working on next.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra is part of a new wave of Windows laptops running on NVIDIA's RTX Spark platform. It was first revealed at Computex 2026, and Microsoft followed up with pricing, release date, and more feature details at a special event on October 7, 2026. Prices are confirmed to start at $2,599.99, and models are expected to begin shipping on October 16.

The Surface Laptop Ultra is the most powerful Surface device yet thanks to its ARM-based NVIDIA System-on-Chip (SoC) with up to 20 CPU cores, 6,144 Blackwell RTX GPU cores, and 128GB of unified memory. Microsoft built the Surface Laptop Ultra for "world makers," also known as developers, scientists, engineers, and creators, who need a fresh take on performance and portability in the age of AI.

Microsoft finally gave us more information about the Surface Laptop Ultra, including price, release date, and features, at a special event on October 7.

It's confirmed that the RTX Spark-powered PC will begin shipping on October 16, and preorders are live now, starting at $2,599.

The reactions to this announcement have been interesting. It seems like a fair number of people were expecting a higher baseline price, while others are just happy that Surface now has a true MacBook Pro competitor for the age of AI.

Here's what people are saying about the new Surface Laptop Ultra and its RTX Spark platform.

The Windows community reacts to the Surface Laptop Ultra's pricing

Starting at $2,599, the Surface Laptop Ultra is actually the most affordable RTX Spark laptop you can buy right now. You can have a look for yourself in my roundup of Spark devices available for preorder today.

Many of us here at Windows Central expected the price to kick off at $2,999, and that seems to be a common thread in the community as well.

Responding to Zac's post, X user @janekknaf said, "Quite cheap tbh I expected it to start at $2999."

Over on Reddit, the sentiment seems to be largely the same.

Responding to a Windows Central subreddit thread regarding other RTX Spark laptops and their pricing, user Icybubba noted, "And somehow the Surface seems to be the cheapest out of all those."

Another redditor, Valterri_Its_James, remarked, "Lowkey the pricing isn't absolutely horrendous. 32GB costs $3300 which is about the same as the ROG Zephyrus G14."

Not everyone is loving the Surface Laptop Ultra's pricing

Others aren't so sure that the Surface Laptop Ultra is a reasonable price, especially once they dig into the configuration options and see what's available for each chip.

For reference, the Laptop Ultra has two RTX Spark options available: a more affordable option with an 18-core CPU and 5120-core GPU, or a more expensive option with a 20-core CPU and 6144-core GPU.

The price difference between these two models is roughly $1,100, though the more powerful Spark defaults to at least 32GB of RAM (compared to 24GB) and a 1TB SSD (compared to 512GB).

Do you think the price hike for 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD is too extreme? Let me know in the comments below.

How's everyone feeling about the breakaway USB-C Port?

The announced feature that seems to be getting a lot of attention alongside pricing is the Surface Laptop Ultra's breakaway USB-C port.

It's sort of a mashup between Apple MagSafe and Surface Connect, designed to pull out of the laptop rather than ripping it off a desk should you trip on the cable. It's designed to work with any USB-C cable, and the port offers full functionality.

Reddit user Oliver-Pearce called it a "Welcome feature!" and X user Psalter said, "Anyone who's ever tripped over a charging cable will appreciate this."

There are, of course, plenty of detractors noting that it took Microsoft this long to finally copy Apple MagSafe. That's not exactly true; Surface Connect was always magnetic and would break away if jarred. The move to the more ubiquitous USB-C form factor erased that failsafe, and Microsoft has now reintroduced it.

It's also worth pointing out that MagSafe does not handle any data and is for power only. The Surface Laptop Ultra's USB-C port handles both.

I want to know what you think!

We're a community here at Windows Central, and I'm always interested in your opinions. I want to know what you think about the Surface Laptop Ultra's pricing, configuration options, and features in more detail, so please be sure to leave a comment below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft finally revealed exactly how much its new Surface Laptop Ultra costs (starting at $2,599!), and preorders are now live for anyone who wants to get in on the first wave of PCs expected to ship on October 16.

While Microsoft was busy revealing new information about its most powerful Surface yet at the event, other laptop makers were busy setting their own prices and opening up preorders.

We now have a wide selection of RTX Spark laptops from the likes of ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI, and I'm expecting there to be more arriving in the near future. Until then, here's what you can preorder today.

RTX Spark laptops with confirmed pricing and release date (so far)

To make it easier for anyone hoping to land a new RTX Spark-powered PC, I've put together this list of laptops that you can now preorder.

Did I miss any RTX Spark laptops?

Did you spot a live preorder I missed? Let me know about it in the comments section below. I'd also love to hear your opinions regarding pricing on these models. Do you think it's too high? Too low? Just right? Tell me about it!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The Surface Laptop Ultra with NVIDIA RTX Spark is now available to preorder following the October 7 Surface event in San Francisco. It arrives as a suped-up Surface Laptop 8 with a 15-inch mini-LED display, tons of ports, a sleek design, and, of course, NVIDIA's N1x chip with support for up to 128GB of unified memory.

It's a laptop that's marketed as the ultimate PC for creators, AI specialists, engineers, scientists, and developers who don't want to be tied down to a bulky workstation on a desk.

That's all fine and good, but having had the opportunity alongside my colleague Zac Bowden to use the Surface Laptop Ultra a couple of times, I can say that NVIDIA was not shy about showing off the PC's gaming prowess in closed demos.

I can also say that the gaming experience was super smooth, even in games with ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS support. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle ran flawlessly when I tried it, and every other title seemed to be an easy task for the Laptop Ultra.

What's more impressive is that many of these demo games were run through Microsoft's Prism emulation layer due to the RTX Spark's ARM architecture (the same used by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X and X2 chips).

That begs the question: Is the Surface Laptop Ultra the ultimate laptop for PC gaming?

At the risk of breaking some pixelated hearts, I'll say that dedicated PC gamers should look elsewhere. Here's why.

The Surface Laptop Ultra's specs look ideal for gaming ... what gives?

It's well established that NVIDIA's RTX platform is the preferred way to play on PC for most gamers, mainly due to the excellent performance and additional support for features like ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS.

Considering the Surface Laptop Ultra's RTX Blackwell GPU supports all of the latest features, wouldn't that make it a capable PC for gaming?

Well, yes. But there's more to the story.

The Surface Laptop Ultra was not designed to be a gaming PC. It was made to handle intricate AI workloads locally and to be the centerpiece of a professional's arsenal, and the fact that it can run plenty of games smoothly is simply a convenient effect of using NVIDIA's technology. Its starting price of $2,599 reflects that reality.

Sure, that cost is inflated due to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, but in any case, you can buy a quality laptop made specifically for gaming purposes (suffering from the same RAM and memory squeeze) for considerably less money.

For my PC gaming money, I'd much rather buy a PC running standard Windows 11 rather than Windows on ARM (despite serious advancements in emulation and support). That way, you're guaranteed not to experience any compatibility issues with the games or their anti-cheat methods.

Gaming laptops also come tuned for gaming right out of the box, and their hardware is designed to support that initiative. Sure, you could tune the Surface Laptop Ultra to focus more on gaming, but that's really not what it was meant for.

The bottom line regarding the Surface Laptop Ultra and PC gaming

The Surface Laptop Ultra should be treated as a pro-grade laptop that happens to have some more-than-decent gaming chops.

I know there are plenty of pros out there who love the idea of tackling AI workloads during the day and gaming at night, all from the same machine, and the Surface Laptop Ultra should be a hot ticket for those users.

For gamers at heart, however, I recommend taking a look at the host of quality dedicated gaming laptops before ever considering the Surface Laptop Ultra.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft's Surface event today, October 7, revealed a lot more about the Surface Laptop Ultra with an NVIDIA RTX Spark chip inside.

For those who can't fathom missing out on the first wave of new laptops, I have good news. The Surface Laptop Ultra is now available to preorder starting at $2,599, with shipments expected to begin going out on October 16.

Surface Laptop Ultra — What configurations are available, and which one is best for me?

The Surface Laptop Ultra is set up so that configurations really only affect the performance hardware inside. Each model comes with a 15-inch mini-LED display, the same port selection, and the same killer design.

The baseline $2,599 model includes the RTX Spark platform with NVIDIA's 18-core N1X CPU and 5120-core RTX Blackwell GPU, 24GB of unified RAM, and 512GB of storage.

This is a decent option for those who need to balance price and performance, or for those who simply want to get their hands on this new hardware without overspending.

There's also a model with a 20-core CPU and 6144-core GPU for those who need utmost power. Configuring with 32GB of unified RAM (the lowest option) and a 1TB SSD (also the lowest option), you're looking at $3,699.99. This model is where I'd recommend most advanced users start.

Moving up from there, you can essentially trick out your PC with as much RAM and storage as you want. This is where things begin to get very expensive for pro users. The top-of-the-line model with the more powerful Spark, 128GB of unified RAM, and a 1TB SSD runs up to $5,899.99, reserving it for a select few.

Both models are available in Nightfall or Platinum colors.

Is the Surface Laptop Ultra's price too high?

I wasn't expecting the laptop Microsoft calls "Not Standard Issue" to be reasonably priced for most users.

It's a flagship PC with monster internals, and Microsoft clearly states that it's intended for creators, AI builders, scientists, engineers, and other power users who need an ultimate device to handle everything.

Those users are generally used to paying more for high-end hardware, but that doesn't make the price sting any less.

Take this high-end approach and tack on the macroeconomics of the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, and you get set prices much higher than I'm sure Microsoft ever intended.

Starting at $2,599 for a "baseline" model, you'll want to be sure this is the PC for you before you buy it.

As for the gaming angle, I've covered it in more detail in a separate post. Bottom line? You shouldn't buy the Surface Laptop Ultra as a dedicated gaming machine, but its NVIDIA Blackwell GPU will indeed power many games with ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS in tow.

Are you preordering the new Surface Laptop Ultra today? If so, which configuration did you get? If not, what made you skip it? Let me know in the comments section below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft has finally given us the all-important pricing and availability details for its flagship Surface Laptop Ultra device, which it first unveiled back in June. During its October 7th keynote in San Francisco, Microsoft confirmed that Surface Laptop Ultra would begin shipping on October 16, with pre-orders going live today starting at $2,599.

That entry-level price is on the more expensive side, but it's not as bad as many were expecting it to be. That entry-level price nets you the Surface Laptop Ultra with a 15-inch mini-LED screen, a large haptic trackpad, three USB-C ports (one of which is very unique), and the 18-core RTX Spark with 5120 GPU cores and 24GB RAM.

While the entry-level model isn't for high-end local AI development and agent work, it should be more than capable for video editing, photo creation, data crunching, light gaming, and 3D modeling work.

Alongside pricing and availability, Microsoft also revealed that the Surface Laptop Ultra is the world's first laptop to feature a breakaway USB-C port, similar to Apple's MagSafe and its own Surface Connect. Breakaway cable design means if you ever trip over the cable while the laptop is plugged in, it won't yank the entire laptop off your desk.

Breakaway ports have only ever really been possible on proprietary ports, as they use magnets to ensure the cable remains attached when in use. It's never been attempted on a universal standard before, which is what makes the Surface Laptop Ultra's breakaway port so special. It's a standard USB-C port, capable of taking any USB-C peripheral you can throw at it.

Surface Laptop Ultra is Microsoft's most expensive and most powerful Surface PC ever made. The high-end configs are designed for intensive AI developer workloads such as running large 120B parameter models locally, enabling complex agentic AI workloads and experiences.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

For 48 hours during Amazon's Big Deal Days event (don't call it Prime Day), Samsung's fastest-ever (up to 14,700MB/s) 9100 PRO M.2 solid-state storage drives had dropped in price twice. The 1TB 9100 PRO was down to $196.64 $243.27, edging somewhat closer to the lower prices I preferred before the memory crisis, so it was actually a great time to buy.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

These are PCIe Gen 5 drives, which provide the fastest read and write speeds for commercial storage drives, as long as you have a compatible motherboard. If not, they'll fall back to PCIe 4.0 and can be transplanted into an upgraded rig later. Similarly, the 2TB 9100 PRO (had) dropped to $334.99 $399.99, which seems like it would sting, but was a relatively decent price for double the space.

For those with more of a stretchy budget, you could have also sprung for more space, since the 4TB 9100 PRO was 'down' to $734.99 (now, even further to $712.49). You can see where the value multiplier starts to slip, but it's still slightly better than it has been in the past. If you're lucky enough to own one of the rarer motherboards with two PCIe 5.0 slots, you'd perhaps consider picking up two 2TB drives instead.

On the other hand, you could go completely overboard and grab the 8TB 9100 PRO for.. $2,279.50. That's not a typo. It might be listed as a deal, but that's still within the realms of fantasy for most, especially when the dollars-per-gigabyte metric falls off so hard.

Then again, I know people with these kinds of drives. They're usually in massive home server units, powering self-made servers, but these things do sell. Either way, I have a couple of the 1TB 9100 PRO drives in mine and my wife's desktop PCs, and they've been running strong since day one. It was an expensive adoption, but I've had no regrets. This price was much more like it.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

We all love gaming, but like all pleasures in life, excessive indulgence can lead to damaging your health. For instance, staring too long at computer or TV screens that project blue HEV light can strain your eyes or even ruin your sleep cycle by disrupting your brain.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

Fortunately, apparel brand GUNNAR is here to save your eyes with its Fallout-themed Vault 33 Glasses, which are now on sale for $62.99 at Amazon (was $99.00) courtesy of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days.

Other Fallout Gunnar Glasses are also on sale on GUNNAR's website (discounts are applied during checkout).

Why buy these glasses for gaming?

These gaming glasses are more than novelty items meant to cater to Fallout fans; they're all useful for protecting the wearer's eyes during long hours of gaming or work staring at computer screens that project blue light all day.

For those unaware, prolonged exposure to blue light (which can be emitted from modern monitors and phone screens) can cause annoying eye strain, headaches, migraines, and even disrupt your sleep pattern. This is because blue light can trick the brain into stopping the production of melatonin, a crucial hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle.

With GUNNAR's Fallout Gaming glasses, you won't have to worry about that anymore, as they can block blue light from monitors. Additionally, they're also equipped with 100% UV protection, so they can double as stylish sunglasses.

I wear Gunnar glasses every day

I saw Alex covering these Gunnar glasses and knew I had to jump in. I wear a pair of Gunnar glasses every day at my desk, and I often wear them outside as well.

I was sent a pair of Gunnar Novata Onyx glasses to try out and was surprised by how much of a difference they made. They reduce glare and adjust the contrast of what I see, which helps my eyes feel less strained throughout the day.

I've used screen filters and built-in device settings in the past, but they weren't as effective because they only changed the output of a specific display. Gunnar glasses, by contrast, affect everything I'm looking at and help reduce the impact of harsh ambient light as well.

As someone who spends most of the day staring at monitors, I've found the glasses help reduce the tired, dry-eye feeling I sometimes get after long work sessions. — Sean Endicott

Alternate gaming glasses also on sale

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days event has officially kicked off, and as usual for these types of events, I've been scouring the web for the best deals on PC components.

I'm not talking about fake deals where the original price is inflated just to make it seem like a discount is larger than reality. I've been using CamelCamelCamel to verify pricing history and axing any deals that are only designed to steal your dough.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

With all that in mind, I've collected 9 great PC component deals ranging from processors and graphics cards to SSD storage, motherboards, and power supplies. If you're building or upgrading a PC in the near future, you don't want to miss these discounts.

Best Prime Day PC Component Deals

FAQ

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Amazon's Prime Big Day Deals are here to give gaming laptops a much-needed price-drop reprieve after prices were inflated by this year's ongoing RAM crisis.

One line-up getting this treatment is Acer's Nitro gaming laptops, which feature dedicated GPUs, crisp displays, plenty of RAM to keep them running, and upgradeable storage space.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

However, these Acer gaming laptop deals, like the mid-range Acer Nitro V 16S (ANV16S-61-R9TR-US) for $1,231.99 or the entry-level Acer Nitro V (ANV16-I31-54PT) for $1,119.99, are only available to shoppers who are subscribed to Amazon Prime.

Which of these discounted Acer gaming laptops offer the best value?

Out of all these laptop deals, I'd say the Nitro V 16S (ANV16S-61-R9TR-US) offers the best value for money.

While it's slightly cheaper than its initial launch MSRP of $1,299.99 in 2025, its discounted price of $1,231.99 at Amazon is a much better proposition compared to its current MSRP of $1,449.99, caused by the market-disrupting RAM Crisis this year.

As for Acer Nitro V 16S's specs, our colleagues at Tom's Hardware praised the Acer Nitro V 16S for performing in all the same categories that are important to us at Windows Central.

These categories include a crisp and vibrant 16-inch IPS display with a 1920x1200 resolution with 180Hz refresh rates, high-performance rates for 1080p and 60fps+ gaming and productivity tasks thanks to its 16GB RAM and RTX 5060 GPU, a wide variety of HMDI, microSD, and USB ports, and a long-lasting battery life of 10+ hours under heavy workloads.

On top of that, the Acer Nitro V 16S's specs not only perform reliably well for 1080p gaming but they're also good at helping it complete productivity tasks efficiently on the side, making it a decent jack-of-all-trades laptop.

Alternate Acer gaming laptops on sale

As a reminder, alternate configurations of this laptop and other Acer Nitro gaming laptops are also on sale for Amazon Prime Big Deals Day at the following prices:

• Acer Nitro V 16S AI Copilot+ PC Gaming Laptop (ANV16S-61-R3Z0) (AMD Ryzen 7 350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SDD) — $248 off $1,649.99 for $1,401.99 at Amazon.
• Acer Nitro 16S AI Gaming Laptop (AN16S-61-R7YL) (AMD Ryzen 7 350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SDD) — $225 off $1499.99 for $1,274.99 at Amazon.
• Acer Nitro 16S AI Copilot+ PC Gaming Laptop (AN16S-61-R5FY) (AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD) — $200 off $1,849.99 for $1649.99 at Amazon. 
• Acer Nitro V Gaming Laptop (AN16S-61-R5FY) (Intel Core 5 CPU 210H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 GPU, 8GB DDR5, 512GB SSD) — $180 off $1,299.99 for $1,119.99 at Amazon.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Geekom is serving up a bountiful buffet of its reliable mini PCs for Amazon Prime's Big Deal Days for hardworking keyboard warriors looking to get work done efficiently while saving desk space at lower prices.

Some of these mini PCs are on sale at Amazon itself, while others are being discounted on Geekom's own store to give PC users a wide variety of options depending on their budget and needs.

Do note that some of these deals will require entering discount codes during checkout to apply the price drop, as provided below. The codes are valid from October 1, to October 7, 2026.

• You can find more deals on Geekom's entire lineup at Amazon from everyday computing solutions to high-performing mini-PCs between October 6, to October 7, 2026.

Amazon deals

Geekom deals

Which of these deals are worth your money?

With the RAM crisis driving the prices of regular PCs and laptops to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars even with discounts, mini PCs have become a hot commodity for folks looking to get work done without breaking the bank.

These Geekom deals are fine examples of mini PCs, and the best value for money among them is the Geekom A5 Pro, which is available for $499.00 at Geekom when bought with the discount codes "TYT3XDFB" or "WCT3XDFB".

Our sister site TechRadar gave it a glowing 4/5 review, praising its performance thanks to its AMD Ryzen 5 7430U CPU and 16GB of DDR4 RAM, its versatile range of USB, HDMI, and LAN ports, and 'IceBlast 2.0' cooling system to keep it from overheating during extensive workflow tasks. It's all the same kind of quality we look for when we test Geekom mini PCs ourselves.

On top of that, it has a compact yet durable aluminum build, an SD card reader that can download images and videos reasonably fast, and a three-year warranty so you can replace it if it suffers any accidental damage.

• As a reminder, you can find more discounted Geekom mini PCs and other Geekom desktops on sale at Amazon's Prime Day sale from October 6, to October 7, 2026.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Prime Big Deal Days are here, and that means big savings on the hottest tech. Microsoft Surface sales slash hundreds of dollars off the Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and Surface accessories.

Best Buy and other retailers are running competing sales alongside Prime Big Deal Days, so the best Surface deals are spread across the web. You'll also see prices fluctuate as stock runs out or sits for too long. I've scoured the web for the best Surface deals, and our team at Windows Central will keep this piece up to date with the best discounts.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

You'll notice that I don't list the Surface Pro 12-inch or Surface Laptop 13-inch below. That's because those PCs have new versions with Snapdragon X2 processors launching next week. You can still buy older models with first-gen Snapdragon X chips, but I'd recommend waiting until the new generation ships to see where prices fall on older devices.

Surface Pro (13-inch)

Surface Laptop 8

Accessories

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

After much waiting, Gears of War: E-Day has fully launched for all players to enjoy on Xbox and PC, yet its base game's 115GB install requirement is going to take a big chunk out of your preferred platform's storage.

Fortunately for PC players, Prime Big Deal Days has cut down the insufferably inflated price of the Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB SSD from "$679.97" to $349.99 at Amazon, so they can more easily fit Gears of War: E-Day and other games into their gaming PCs.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

While it's still higher than its original launch MSRP of $299.99, it's still a relatively decent price, considering the current state of tech thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis — just take that previous '$600+' listing with a pinch of salt. $349.99 for 2TB is more like the new normal these days.

Why buy the Samsung 9100 SSD?

The Samsung 9100 Pro comes in multiple storage sizes, including 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB. It also features 14,700/13,400 MB/s sequential read/write speeds, and random read/write speeds of up to 1,850K/2,600K IOPS.

With these advanced technological features combined, you have a powerful PC storage hard drive capable of storing tons of important work files, 4K videos and images, and video games while being able to transfer data with blazing speeds.

The only major criticism of this SSD is that its current MSRP on Amazon is a whopping $679.97 (while the highest detected price on Amazon was $505.46 according to CamelCamelCamel), which is ridiculous considering it originally launched with an MSRP of $299.99.

However, this isn't necessarily this SSD's fault because this price hike was mainly caused by the ongoing RAM crisis this year, driving the market price of all tech-related products to unaffordable levels every single day to offset the memory demands of AI.

Frankly, I'm surprised we're seeing a price drop on the Samsung 9100 Pro or any SSD at all during this crisis, as the way things are going, I fear there may come a point where we might never see a decent price drop on ANY SSD or any tech product ever again.

So, if you're looking for a long-term solution for your gaming PC's storage woes before its MSRP gets permanently untenable, then Amazon's Big Deal Days discount on the 2TB variant of the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD couldn't have come at a better time because it's now on sale at the same time as Gears of War: E-Day's public launch.

This long-awaited prequel to Xbox's iconic Gears of War franchise has a huge 115GB install requirement for the base game alone, a number that will no doubt grow with post-launch updates.

With this discounted 2TB SSD, you will be able to more easily fit Gears of War: E-Day and prep your PC for all its future updates and other upcoming games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

Alternative models and SSDs

Additionally, the 1TB model of the Samsung 9100 Pro is also on sale for $206.99 at Amazon (MSRP is currently $339.99) if you just want its solid performance at a lower price. Plus, the 4TB model of the Samsung 9100 Pro is on sale for $699.00 at Amazon (MSRP is currently $1,359.99) if you're willing to break the bank for the most storage possible.

However, if you're looking for an even cheaper SSD on the Samsung Pro line, the Samsung 990 1TB SSD with 7,150/6,450 MB/s sequential read/write speeds (which we gave a glowing 4.5/5 review to) is also on sale right now for $189.99 at Amazon (MSRP is currently $228.95).

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days are almost over, but arguably the best laptop deal of the month is still here. A $200 discount on the XPS 13 drops the XPS 13 to $799.99. There's even a version of the XPS 13 discounted to $599.99 if you only need 8GB of RAM.

Of course, it isn't actually a Prime Big Deal Day deal. The discount is through Best Buy, making it a "Techtober" deal. But do you really care why you're saving $200 on what our expert calls "the perfect starter PC"?

Laptops this good are rarely in this price range due to the ongoing RAM crisis and other component shortages. Dell created this version of the XPS 13 to be more affordable, but premium laptops with this feature set and design now normally cost $1,000.

👉Is Windows 11 on 8GB of RAM really that bad?

The XPS 13 that came out this year earned a 4.5 out of 5 from both Tom's Hardware and Tom's Guide. Our colleagues complimented the laptop's 2.5K screen, incredible battery life, and excellent speakers.

Matt Safford from Tom's Hardware called the new XPS 13 "an excellent Windows-based answer to the MacBook Neo." I agree with his take, though I question how many people genuinely debate between a Windows laptop and a MacBook.

The XPS 13 is a thin-and-light laptop with a refined design. It has several features that "discount" laptops lack (I'm looking at you, MacBook Neo). For example, the XPS 13 has backlit keys, an IR sensor for facial recognition, and support for Wi-Fi 7. Toss in a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 120Hz display and it's easy to see why our Zac Bowden said he was "shocked" at the value of the laptop when he went hands-on with the XPS 13.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

A lot is happening this week in the world of Windows and Surface. Today is the fifth anniversary of Windows 11, a milestone that snuck up on me and plenty of other users. Perhaps it's because I dragged my feet while making the move permanently from Windows 10.

On October 7, Microsoft is hosting a Surface event where it's expected that NVIDIA's RTX Spark chip and the Surface Laptop Ultra lineup will be further discussed (and hopefully better explained).

This collision of Microsoft-related software and hardware news got me thinking about a quote from the original architect of Microsoft's Surface lineup, Panos Panay:

The quote comes from an interview with TechCentral circa 2020, well before Panay departed Microsoft in 2023 to join Amazon's Devices and Services segment. The quote does a great job capturing the original reason why Surface exists at all.

Microsoft originally wanted hardware that showcased the best of Windows software, and it believed its goal could only be achieved with in-house development. Surface became the bridge between software and hardware that Panay alludes to with his quote, and it's had a (mostly) great run.

Where is Surface headed in 2026?

What has me most confused about the upcoming Surface event is that Microsoft already revealed its new Surface Pro 12-inch (Gen 2) and Surface Laptop 13-inch (Gen 2) devices.

They showed up on September 23 as part of Qualcomm's annual Snapdragon Summit, a full two weeks before the Surface event. Sure, it makes some sense due to the new Surface PCs using Snapdragon X2 chips inside, but why not save the juice for the main event?

My colleague Sean Endicott attempted to answer this question at the time of the Surface/Qualcomm reveal last month. As he stated, "we can now cross two more items off the list of potential things we will see at the Windows and Surface event," noting that the October 7 Surface event also "falls after many improvements have shipped to Windows 11 or entered testing with Windows Insiders."

So what is Microsoft planning to reveal at its Surface event? The Surface Laptop Ultra was already revealed at Computex 2026, but we should get more information. We might also get a glimpse of the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, especially considering NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang is part of the show.

Barring the surprise reveal of more new Surface hardware — the Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 with Snapdragon X2 chips launched this summer, so I'm not expecting anything new there — the October 7 Surface event is shaping up to be a tad lopsided.

Is Surface drifting without Panay's anchoring presence?

It's been six years since Panay dropped his famous Surface quote. It's been three years since he left Microsoft for Amazon. And since then, Surface really hasn't felt the same.

Rather than pushing OEMs to improve their own devices by providing a quality benchmark, Surface seems to be fairly stagnant, fragmented, and largely riding on its reputation.

For me, someone who agrees with Panay's sentiment, a successful Surface event should include software that really only makes sense on the Surface Laptop Ultra with RTX Spark. If it's just another laptop with the chip inside, well, I won't be very excited.

On that note, it'd be great to see some tuning choices that directly benefit Surface with RTX Spark. The hardware-software relationship often shows its cracks in this area, so some assurance will go a long way.

Ultimately, the upcoming Surface event should be a defining moment. Will Panay's original vision carry forward as partnerships become more complicated? Will the quote remain relevant?

Or will Surface become just another laptop brand alongside OEMs like Dell, HP, and Lenovo? Either way, you can tune in to the livestream on October 7 at 1 PM ET to check it out with the rest of us.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.